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TopIn the context of increasingly fierce economic competition, lecturers’ creative behavior has become a crucial factor in helping universities achieve sustainable development. Innovative behavior, defined as the ability to generate new ideas and apply creativity effectively at work (Herijanto et al., 2023), enhances university competitiveness, improves work productivity, and supports organizational growth (Metz & Kanyam, 2023).
In Vietnam, universities are still predominantly administratively operated and do not prioritize innovation for product transfer and commercialization. This makes it challenging to develop universities that operate under advanced governance mechanisms associated with innovation. Such transformation is essential to reduce dependence on the state budget and learner-generated revenue, which are critical conditions for achieving financial and institutional autonomy. Moreover, fostering innovation in university administration, building a culture of creativity, and amplifying the voice of lecturers, learners, and stakeholders will align universities more closely with global best practices (Dinh, 2020).
In the context of global economic integration, fierce market competition, and the pressures of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0, universities must enhance their efficiency in training, teaching, and research (Pham & Nguyen, 2023). Similar to businesses, universities seeking success require innovative and highly skilled lecturers, who are considered essential to the success of these institutions. How administrators interact with faculty can significantly influence key outcomes such as faculty satisfaction, commitment to the university, productivity, efficiency, turnover, and the positive emotional energy lecturers bring to their work. Faculty members are more likely to exceed job expectations and strive for success when they believe in the goals and mission communicated by administrators and feel that their work is meaningful. Therefore, leadership qualities and styles characterized by supportive, inspiring, and unifying behaviors are invaluable to the organization and play an essential role in improving organizational efficiency (Tran & Truong, 2022).
Higher education today faces unprecedented challenges, including rising tuition fees, complex school administration, and globalization trends that demand university graduates possess a wide range of skills and competencies (Bastedo et al., 2023). Universities must prepare graduates not only with the knowledge and skills to meet societal workforce demands but also with the moral responsibility to fully participate in the global economy (Lambert, 2014; Spellings, 2006). This dual mission requires higher education systems to equip students with the capacity for civic responsibility and personal development (Lambert, 2014), enabling them to overcome obstacles in the current environment while developing diverse skills for the global labor market, making the role of the lecturer critical. Thus, the innovative behavior of university lecturers is essential not only for adaptation but also as a driving force for the change and development of students, institutions, and society (Thurlings et al., 2015).
Hidayat et al. (2023) researched the role of perceived organizational support, proactive personality, meaningful work, and work engagement in influencing employee creativity. Saputra et al. (2023) examined the impact of teamwork and empowering leadership on workforce adaptation. Bui and Vo (2023) explored how empowering leadership can promote knowledge sharing and innovative work behavior of employees. Huang (2023) investigated the positive relationship between leadership and employee creativity. Wang et al. (2023) proposed a model of the benefits and costs of empowering leadership. M. D. Le (2023) showed that transformational leadership is positively related to employee motivation and creativity, with employee intrinsic motivation positively mediating the impact of both leadership and citizenship behavior on employee creativity.